USAF’s
F-35 beddown decisions may affect where F-22s end up, according to the service’s installation czar. When the service unveiled it list of 11 candidate locations to host the F-35 next decade, Holloman AFB, N.M., was included as a potential training site. “Holloman scored very high on the training list,” Kathleen Ferguson, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, told reporters Nov. 2. However, she noted, the capacity does not exist “to support both the F-22 and the F-35” at Holloman, which is already in the throes of establishing two combat-ready F-22 squadrons. Ferguson said USAF may consider “the potential to relocate the F-22” as part of the next phase of F-35 beddown process. That news prompted Virginia lawmakers last week to ask USAF for more information on F-22 basing decisions, since they would like to get more Raptors at Langley Air Force Base. Continue
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
